Convert NSData to String?

123
votes

I am storing a openssl private Key EVP_PKEY as nsdata. For this I am serializing into a byte stream using the code below

unsigned char *buf, *p;
int len;
len = i2d_PrivateKey(pkey, NULL);
buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); 
p = buf;
i2d_PrivateKey(pkey, &p);

where pkey is of type EVP_PKEY. Then I am storing the bytes from buffer 'p' as an NSData using the line given below

NSData *keydata = [NSData dataWithBytes:P length:len];

Now I am converting it to a NSString using the code given below but when i print it into console its giving some other characters.

NSString *content =[ NSString stringWithCString:[keydata bytes] encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

Could someone help?

Basically I want to store the EVP_PKEY into a sqlite database

am I on the right track? Thanks.

6
iphoneiossqliteopensslnsdata
What do you mean, "some other characters"? Is it printing extra characters at the end that shouldn't be there, or is it just printing completely different characters than you expect? – Tom Harrington
Its completely different from what it is to be – Zach
Are you sure that the data is actually UTF-8 encoded? I'm not familiar with i2d_PrivateKey but your results suggest you're not using the right string encoding. – Tom Harrington
@TOm: Thanks. it was ASCIIEncoding. Now its working fine – Zach
No, you are not on the right track here, and all the answers seem incorrect. You should use base64 encoding if you want to convert the data in NSData to NSString. – Maarten Bodewes

6 Answers

266
votes

Objective-C

You can use (see NSString Class Reference)

- (id)initWithData:(NSData *)data encoding:(NSStringEncoding)encoding

Example:

NSString *myString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:myData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

Remark: Please notice the NSData value must be valid for the encoding specified (UTF-8 in the example above), otherwise nil will be returned:

Returns nil if the initialization fails for some reason (for example if data does not represent valid data for encoding).

Prior Swift 3.0

String(data: yourData, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)

Swift 3.0 Onwards

String(data: yourData, encoding: .utf8)

See String#init(data:encoding:) Reference

24
votes

Prior Swift 3.0 :

String(data: yourData, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)

For Swift 4.0:

String(data: yourData, encoding: .utf8)
3
votes

I believe your "P" as the dataWithBytes param

NSData *keydata = [NSData dataWithBytes:P length:len];

should be "buf"

NSData *keydata = [NSData dataWithBytes:buf length:len];

since i2d_PrivateKey puts the pointer to the output buffer p at the end of the buffer and waiting for further input, and buf is still pointing to the beginning of your buffer.

The following code works for me where pkey is a pointer to an EVP_PKEY:

unsigned char *buf, *pp;
int len = i2d_PrivateKey(pkey, NULL);
buf = OPENSSL_malloc(len); 
pp = buf;
i2d_PrivateKey(pkey, &pp);

NSData* pkeyData = [NSData dataWithBytes:(const void *)buf length:len];
DLog(@"Private key in hex (%d): %@", len, pkeyData);

You can use an online converter to convert your binary data into base 64 (http://tomeko.net/online_tools/hex_to_base64.php?lang=en) and compare it to the private key in your cert file after using the following command and checking the output of mypkey.pem:

openssl pkcs12 -in myCert.p12 -nocerts -nodes -out mypkey.pem

I referenced your question and this EVP function site for my answer.

2
votes

Swift 3:

String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)
2
votes

Swift 5:

String(data: data!, encoding: String.Encoding.utf8)
1
votes

A simple way to convert arbitrary NSData to NSString is to base64 encode it. 

NSString *base64EncodedKey = [keydata base64EncodedStringWithOptions: NSDataBase64Encoding64CharacterLineLength];

You can then store it into your database for reuse later. Just decode it back to NSData.